Three hundred fifty nine days after Don Christopher donated the initial $1 million to get the wheels in motion for building an athletic complex on the Christopher High School campus, the Gilroy Unified School District’s Board of Education gave its official approval which will jumpstart construction.
“I can’t tell you how happy we are,” said Christopher, who was told the stadium would be completed by his 80th birthday on Aug. 4. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
At the Dec. 12 school board meeting, trustees unanimously approved the $2.551 million lowest bid offer from Bay Area-based Graniterock to begin the Phase I plan, which includes an artificial turf athletic field, stadium lights and the foundation for an all-weather track.
Christopher, owner of the Christopher Ranch garlic empire in Gilroy, donated nearly every penny for the Phase I project, even diverting an extra $250,000 from a separate $750,000 fund he established solely for building the bleachers. Other contributions were collected by the Don Christopher Sports Complex Committee through its Legacy Club fundraiser. In addition, an email fundraiser campaign was carried out by CHS staff to add to the Phase I pot.
Even more good news came out of Thursday’s meeting when the Board voted 5-2 in favor of approving a $303,000 bid – this time funded by district money – to complete surfacing of the all-weather track.
“That was the nicest thing to do for the kids that they could possibly do,” said Christopher of the district’s willingness to allocate funds for the track. “That’s why we’re doing this, for the kids.”
The original Phase I plans called for only the foundation of the all-weather track to be constructed, but the Board’s vote changed that. The project will pull $260,000 from the Contingency Budget of the Measure P funds – the $150 million general obligation facilities bond voters passed in 2008 – with the rest of the funds coming from the roughly $2.1 million worth of undesignated Measure P funds.
“We were going to break ground anyway, but they weren’t going to be able to complete the track,” explained Christopher, who has donated more than $3 million toward the athletic complex project.
New Board President Mark Good and trustee Fred Tovar cast the two opposing votes in opposition to GUSD funding the track surfacing project.
“I kind of feel like I have a gun pointed at my head,” said Good, referring to pressure from donors and certain district staff to get the project completed within a certain timeline, along with the fact that bidding starts all over if the project is delayed. “I am not that comfortable with this process.”
Other school board trustees, as well as Superintendent Debbie Flores, argued that CHS will eventually need the track – and the time to build it is now while the district can get the most bang for its buck. The bid, also from Graniterock, actually came in with a discount of $72,000.
“We believe this job needs to be finished and we are short (in funds),” said Flores during Thursday’s discussion. “The Christophers have done a phenomenal job here allowing the district to build this track and field, which the district wouldn’t have been able to do for years, probably until the next (facilities) bond was passed.”
Flores also noted that GUSD is waiting on state approval for an approximately $400,000 bleacher renovation project at Gilroy High School. She said funds for those repairs are coming out of the General Fund designated for deferred maintenance.
Mustang athletes have been carrying on without home-side bleachers since the structure was deemed unsafe and not up to American Disability Act and Division of State Architect Codes in June. The district has been working with the DSA to remedy the issue before the start of the 2014 fall season.
As for the CHS Phase I project, it’s now scheduled to break ground Feb. 1.
“We had really high hopes that (the district) would come through and they did,” Christopher added. “I personally didn’t ask them to give anything. The answer in the beginning was they had no funds and I respected what they said.”
Larry Sanford, spokesman for the Don Christopher Sports Complex Committee, a subcommittee of the local philanthropic Gilroy Foundation, credited a successful partnership between committee members, the Christopher family, district administration and the school board for partnering together to reach a common goal.
“We’re just thrilled to be part of the Don Christopher Sports Complex legacy for years to come,” Sanford said.
The committee raised $60,000 through its Legacy Club, which offers lifetime entrance to all home games and a family name engraving in the home-side bleachers. Memberships into the Legacy Club – which costs $2,000 per donor and is limited to the first 100 families – can be purchased at dcsportscomplex.org.
The total funds raised from the Exclusive Sports Complex fundraising campaign, an email-based effort driven by CHS administration, faculty, staff and students that kicked off back in September, stands at $20,000.
Christopher Ranch donated $125,000 for the stadium scoreboard and Don’s son, Bill Christopher, and grandson, Ken Christopher, have been “intimately involved in the design,” according to Sanford. The scoreboard includes two 4-by-6 advertising spaces, one of which has already been secured for “thousands of dollars over a multi-year term,” Sanford said.
The remaining $500,000 that Don Christopher dedicated to the home-side bleachers project is currently under review by the DSA. Sanford said once approval is granted, those bleachers, which will seat around 1,000 spectators, are scheduled for completion at the same time as the Phase I project.
CHS Principal Patricia Jolly, who attended Thursday’s meeting and was “thrilled” with the outcome, said the new athletic complex will not only benefit students playing in extra-curricular activities, but also every student at the school during curricular activities from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. such as physical education classes.
Some sports injuries at CHS have been “pretty catastrophic” due to poor surface conditions and a lack of turf congruency, noted Athletic Trainer Stacey Walker in November 2012. The result is a booby trapped 4-acre sprawl teeming with divots, holes and a “hilly” surface on the corner of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Day Road.
Jolly also pointed to the possible revenue boost coming from parking and concessions to CHS athletics programs, while at the same time giving some relief to the facility at GHS, which had been used for games by both high schools’ teams, in addition to community recreation programs and Gavilan College sports teams.
The timeline for Phase II, which includes visitor side bleachers, a press box and concession stands, has yet to be finalized but the fundraising will continue, according to Sanford.
Cost: $5.3 million overall; $3.7 million (Phase I), $1.6 million (Phase II)
Phase I start date: Feb. 1, 2014
Phase I completion: June 2014
Square footage: About 4.8 acres
Location: CHS campus, corner of Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard (replacing the existing football practice field)
Seating Capacity: 1,500 home seats, 500 visitor seats
Phase I plans: New synthetic-turf field and all-weather track; stadium lights; home bleachers and press box; electronic scoreboard.
Phase II plans: Permanent visitor bleachers; concession stands; bathrooms; perimeter fence; PA/sound system; track timing system; entry area paving and signage.
